Industry Reports

2019

2019 Investment Forecast webcast

Fed has increasingly accommodative stance as trade battles weigh on economy. At its latest meeting, the Federal Reserve showed a greater willingness to ease policy rates in the near term.

Research Brief - July 2019Retail Sales

Consumption rise supported by diverse drivers. Retail spending picked up in June, climbing 3.8 percent on an annual basis for the third time in the past four months. Stable consumption is supported by a strong economic foundation, highlighted by continued job creation and healthy inflation. The Fed will likely cut interest rates at the end of July, providing a boost to the economy.

Research Brief - June 2019Employment

Hiring softens, unemployment rate unchanged in May. Employers added 75,000 jobs last month, maintaining a historically low unemployment rate of 3.6 percent. Downward revisions to March and April’s figures offset June’s gains, taking the average number of new hires to 164,000 per month in 2019. Last year, a monthly average of 223,000 jobs were created.

Market Report Q2/2019Bay Area - Office

Job growth reaccelerating as firms rapidly expand. Even as unemployment remains near the lowest levels in over 20 years, technology and biotech firms, along with multiple vibrant startups, are continually hiring. These corporate giants have dramatically altered the landscape for premier office space, contracting vacancy rates well below the previous cycle lows recorded before the Great Recession. Builders have responded, lifting expected 2019 development to the highest point of the current cycle.

2019 Industrial

North American

Investment Forecast

Research Brief - July 2019Employment

Recent hiring trends fall below pre-tax stimulus job growth. Employers created 224,000 jobs in June, bringing the total so far this year to 1.03 million. That is the lowest first-half sum since 2010, although comparable periods in 2016 and 2017 reported only slightly higher employment growth. The fiscal stimulus from tax reform encouraged greater hiring in 2018, but as those effects fade, staffs are expanding at a slower pace, further hindered by historically low unemployment.

Research Brief - July 2019Housing

Mortgage rates falling but home sales still soft. Though mortgage rates have declined 80 basis points since they peaked last November, single-family home sales remain sluggish. An increased preference for rentals, the limited number of entry-level homes for sale and caution surrounding the economic outlook are restraining buyers.

Research Brief - June 2019Retail Sales

Consumption underpinned by elevated consumer optimism. Retail sales remained steady in May, increasing 3.2 percent over the past year. Though this is slightly lower than the previous two months, spending appears to have further stabilized following heightened levels of consumption for much of 2018. Sustained economic optimism is supporting this trend as consumer confidence stays near historical highs.

Market Report Q2/2019Bay Area - Retail

Historically low unemployment buoys retail demand. Underpinned by the strongest economy since the late 1990s, the Bay Area metros have fueled dramatic growth in retail sales. Many of the largest firms in the region are lifting wage gains well beyond the national average. Retailers have utilized this strength to boost net absorption, pushing retail vacancy rates to the lowest levels in at least a decade.